High-hydrostatic pressure on Escolar meats: Impact on the microbial, chemical, and organoleptic qualities and bacterial community by using high-throughput sequencing

The research aims to investigate the microbiological, chemical, and organoleptic quality changes and shelf-life enhancement of Escolar fish meat under high-pressure processing (HPP) treatment at 300–600 MPa for 5 min. Following a 15-d storage duration at 4 °C, it was observed that higher pressures inhibited the growth of aerobic plate count (APC), psychrotrophic bacteria count (PBC), H 2 S-producing bacteria count (HBC), and coliform, as well as the formation of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) and the increase in pH values. Collectively, treatment at a minimum of 300 MPa effectively retarded the increase in microbial counts, TVBN, and pH. Analyses of TVBN and organoleptic evaluation indicated that treatment at 300–400 MPa and 500–600 MPa could prolong the storage life of fish from 6 d (untreated) to 9–12 d and 15 d, respectively. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) revealed the significant shift in bacterial communities of samples after 15 d storage owing to HPP treatment, consequently contributing to the postponement of spoilage. Overall, the findings confirm that HPP effectively inhibits microbial growth, delays quality degradation, and extends the shelf life of Escolar meats. • With increasing pressure, HPP effectively reduces TVBN levels. • HPP> 300 MPa can delay the increase of TVBN and pH during storage. • Shelf life extended from 6 d to 9–12 d (300–400 MPa) or 15 d (500–600 MPa). • HPP altered the bacterial communities and delayed the spoilage progression using HTS.